Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
March 3, 2016

A St Philip man who tried to outrun the police now has to part ways with $3,000.

Brian Anthony Hunte’s bid to escape the long hand of the law lasted mere seconds, and now he will have six months to come up with the money.

When Hunte, 30, of Harmony Lodge, St Martins, St Philip appeared in the District ‘C’ Magistrates Court – now being housed at Court No. 3 of the Supreme Court – before Magistrate Christopher Birch today, he pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis, intent to supply, trafficking and possession of apparatus.

And while he was reprimanded and discharged on the trafficking and possession of apparatus charges, Birch fined him $2,500 in three months or six months in prison for possession of cannabis, as well as $500 in six months with an alternative of six months in prison for the charge of intent to supply.

The court heard that police were on patrol along Three Houses, St Philip conducting traffic checks when they noticed Hunte driving a white Toyota Corolla.

He was stopped and on approaching the vehicle, police picked up a strong scent of marijuana coming from the vehicle.

After telling police, ‘I was just smoking a lil spliff’, he agreed to a search of the vehicle and his person.

While being searched, police found a transparent plastic bag containing a quantity of cannabis in his front left pants pocket. However, Hunte quickly ran off, but after falling down an incline, he was apprehended by police.

He was taken back to the car where another transparent bag containing cannabis was found in his front left pants pocket.

Another transparent bag and two ziplock bags were also found in his rear left pants pocket. When asked to account for the drugs Hunte said, ‘That is some herb I was trying to get rid of’.